Mark A. Cohen

Justin Potter Professor of American Competitive Enterprise and Professor of LawUniversity Fellow, Resources for the Future

Subject Area(s):
Strategy and Business Economics, Ethics and Social Responsibility

Mark Cohen has extensive experience analyzing government enforcement policies - as both a government economist and an academic - with particular emphasis on environmental and criminal justice issues. A leading expert on enforcing environmental regulations and on corporate crime and punishment, Professor Cohen has published over 100 articles and books on such diverse topics as the effect of community “right to know” laws on firm behavior; why firms reduce toxic chemical emissions; cost-benefit analysis of oil spill regulation and enforcement; how the financial markets value corporate environmental policies and performance; and government enforcement policy and judicial sentencing of individuals and firms convicted of environmental crimes. He has also written extensively on the “cost of crime.”

Professor Cohen previously served as Chairman of the American Statistical Association's Committee on Law and Justice Statistics. He has also been a member of Tennessee's Environmental Justice Steering Committee. Professor Cohen is a member of the Stakeholder Council of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a multi-stakeholder Collaborating Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme, dedicated to developing and disseminating globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines. He has served as a member of the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board's Illegal Competitive Advantage Economic Benefit Advisory Panel; and the General Accounting Office's Expert Panel on Disclosure of Environmental Information in SEC filings. He is also a Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies (VCEMS).

Cohen, Mark A. "Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Crime and Justice." Chapter in Volume 4 (pp. 263-316): Measurement and Analysis of Crime and Justice," Criminal Justice 2000. National Institute of Justice, July 2000, NCJ 182411; available at http://www.ncjrs.org/criminal_justice2000/vol_4/04f.pdf.

"Oil Pollution Prevention and Enforcement Measures and their Effectiveness: a Survey of Empirical Research from the U.S."

"The Cost of Crime: Methods and Findings from Past & Recent Research" European Seminar on Costs and the Distribution of Costs of Crime and Disorder and Crime Prevention, Helsinki, Finland, April 1-2, 2004 (sponsored by Finnish National Council for Crime Prevention, Swedish Council for Crime Prevention, and European Commission).